Wildlife gardening in May

Why wildlife gardening is important all year round

Wildlife gardening is making a bit of come back, despite many of us paving over our drives and adopting time saving strategies to manage the garden.

However environmental concerns mean that wildlife gardening is gaining popularity. It is also vital for our environment. What we plant and how we look after our gardens and countryside, has a direct consequence on the air we breathe and the food we eat.

And actually wildlife gardening is simple. It is very much about allowing your garden to have areas where it can go a little wild and allow nature to take its course.

The advantage of allowing nature to take its course, is that it actually means you can spend less time gardening – as you don’t need to stress every time a buttercup or daisy appears in the lawn.

There are lots of simple things you can do even if you have a small garden to adopt the practice of doing a bit of wildlife gardening.

Other things you can do

Most edible plants can benefit from being grown with companion plants which can attract insects, will help them accumulate extra nutrients or deter deter pests. For examples planting Marigolds or sage around vegetables.

Plant lots of wildlife friendly plants. These either be planted amongst your crops or nearby to attract natural helpers.

Here are some more wildlife gardening tips from Buglife

Weeds are only plants growing in the wrong place -many bugs rely on common ‘weed’ species. If it’s not in the way, let it grow.

Leave your lawn a little longer before mowing, and leave grass to grow completely in corners and margins. Different invertebrates like different grass heights

Let flowers grow in your lawn e.g. White clover and Buttercups are great for pollinators

Let climbers such as ivy grow along your walls and fences to create extra shelter and food for invertebrates. The sight of Holly blue butterflies and ivy bees is worth it

Let dead leaves lie as food for worms and other decomposers which are good for the soil

Leave some undisturbed wild areas in your garden where wildlife can live in peace

Resources

For more advice on wildlife gardening the following websites are crammed with information and include many things which will encourage children to start taking an interest in wildlife gardening too.

Please follow & like us :)

The information and material contained in the Helpforbusymums site including, but not limited to, images, product descriptions, photographs, illustrations, pricing information and reviews may contain typographical errors and inaccuracies. Helpforbusymums does not warrant the completeness or accuracy of the information or materials or the reliability of any advice, statement, opinion or other information displayed or distributed through the Helpforbusymums web site. You acknowledge that any reliance on any such opinion, statement, information or memorandum shall be at your own risk. Helpforbusymumsreserves the right in its sole discretion to correct any omissions or errors in any part of the Helpforbusymums web site.